Eye of the Tiger Beer.

Singer

Yes, that's the best pun I could think of. As encouraged by the wonderful mentor on the DCM 2015 Mentored Novices thread, this is now my training log thread. Welcome!

Running history

(Some of this is copied verbatim from the novices thread)

I'm 36, male, married with two kids, living in the north Dublin suburbs. I have no real sporting background. I used to play a bit of 5-a-side football with friends until kids & work made scheduling a pain. I wasn't grotesquely overweight or anything, but increasingly aware that I was becoming less active and that there was more of me, and running seemed like something I could work into my week.

I ran a bit two summers ago, nothing particularly long or fast - just doing laps of football pitches on my own and a bit around the estate a few times a week. Max 5k, pace around 5:50/k, completely unstructured training. I vaguely recall having stitches during a lot of the runs. Once the weather went bad I stopped.

Last Spring I started venturing out again. By May I was all the way up to a whopping 7k, pace was around 5:10/k and the stitches had gone away, so I decided to enter the Race Series Fingal 10k for something to aim for. June was almost a complete washout due to a chest infection, and July was spent increasing my distance over a few runs - 2 or 3 a week. I did my first 10k in the race, finishing in 55:54. I must have enjoyed the run so tentatively signed up for the Frank Duffy 10m and Half-Marathon. August had a good few more 10k+ training runs, and I completed the 10m in 1:30:12. I carried on the momentum during September, still just doing 2 or 3 runs a week and completed the half-marathon in 1:59:19, which felt pretty awesome at the time.

After the half-marathon I got the terrible notion that maybe I could do the DCM in 2015. Fortunately I happened across the 2014 Mentored Novices thread (which should be enough to put most reasonable people off), read a couple of books about marathon running and probably a million different articles on random websites of mixed quality. For various reasons I was only running once or twice a week during October/November, though that was mixed with a good bit of gym work.

Once 2015 started I started doing a lot more gym work and was back running twice a week or so, with one of those being around 20k or so. I ran the Trim AC 10 mile on February 1st in 1:19:03 and the MSB St Patrick's Day 5k March in 23:27. Around here I hurt my stupid left foot, so eased off on running for a few weeks. Since then I've increased my frequency and milage a good bit and been trying out different types of runs. I'm not yet doing my LSRs slow enough but I'm working on this

Here's a dump of recent runs:

Date | Distance | Pace | Notes
April 18th | 12 miles | 8'46| First long run in a month.
April 20th | 6.75 miles| 8'24 |
23rd April | 10.2 miles | 9'26 | A not great run home from work (City Centre to Swords, mostly uphill, was tired)
28th April |13.2 miles |8'52 A half-marathon PB according to the Nike App
30th April |6.2 miles |7'58 |
1st May |10 miles |8'35 |A good run home from work! Ate later at lunch and had plenty to drink during the day.
4th May |7.5 miles |8'35 |
5th May |14.1miles| 9'09 |
7th May |3.1 miles |7'27 |Treadmill in gym, alternating between 8 minutes per mile and 6'43 minutes per mile
9th May |7.3 miles |8'40| Run in hilly local park (about 500 ft climb in total)
10th May |16.6 |8'56 |Longest training run yet.
11th May |3.5 miles |8'51 |Recovery run. Very difficult to slow down! It was raining, that didn't help.
13th May |6.25 miles |7'44 |10k PB according to Nike App
16th May |6.8 miles |8'49 |Run in hilly local park (about 650 ft climb in total)
17th May |6.15 miles |8'38| A little hungover, so a simple run instead of an LSR.
18th May |13.2 miles |9'17| LSR, picked up the pace a bit in the second half.
20th May |3.1 miles |7'15| Treadmill, followed by some weights
21st May |10 miles |8'51| Run home from work
23rd May| |Cross training in gym (row, weights, cycle)
24th May |6.24 miles |9'19 DNF LSR!!! Minor medical issue.
28th May |6.22 |7'34| 1k/1m/5k/5m/10k PB - Pretended time off due to medical issue was a taper and raced this.
29th May| | |Gym - rowing, weights, cycling
31st May |10.6 miles |8'42 Run up and around Howth - 629 ft climb. Trail running is fun!
1st June |6.5 miles |8'04 |Legs felt tired. Did some ad-hoc strides (wasn't really counting/timing).
3rd June |10 miles|8'46 |Run home from work. Had to stop to get some apple juice on the way due to feeling hungry, so one 12'30 mile, the rest around 8'20. Pilates in the morning might have taken a bit more out of me than anticipated.
4th June | | | Gym.
5th June | 10 miles | 9'04|More running home from work.
6th June | 13.1 miles | 9'04| "LSR"
8th June | 3.1 miles | 7'10| 5k on treadmill.

Singer

Here's this year's goals in rough order of importance:

1. Complete the DCM.
2. Race all the DCM Race Series.
3. Same as 1., but < 4:00:00
4. Fingal 10k < 45:00
5. Half-marathon < 1:45:00
6. Irish Runner 5m < 37:30
7. Frank Duffy 10m < 1:17:30

Dubgal72

Well done will be following for sure. Your goals are very doable, three words: consistency, consistency, consistency....oh and slow down sometimes

menoscemo

Singer wrote: »

Here's this year's goals in rough order of importance:

1. Complete the DCM.
2. Race all the DCM Race Series.
3. Same as 1., but < 4:00:00
4. Fingal 10k < 45:00
5. Half-marathon < 1:45:00
6. Irish Runner 5m < 37:30
7. Frank Duffy 10m < 1:17:30

Your times and goals are almost identical to mine when doing my first marathon.

I nalied 1, 2 4 and 6, narrowly failed on 5 and messed up 3 (4;15). I didn't attempt 7.

Your training seems identical to mine in terms of paces so I'll give you the advice needed to nail goal 5 and especially 3. It took me a year to comes to grasp with this (i was told multiple times during training but didn't take it seriously)!!!:

Your marathon goal is 9:09/mile which seems consistent and realistic based on your other goals and previous times, BUT the majority of your runs need to be slower than PMP (planned marathon pace). The goal of most of your runs is to build endurance, not pace, running them slowly builds just as much endurance while tiring you less and risking injury much less. Running them faster than PMP is pointless and risky. Plan to run once a week faster than PMP and run the rest slower.

Good luck with it!!

Singer

Bit of a mixed week - missed a few days due to various work commitments, generally ran too fast (I'll fix this before the plan starts ) and got lots of great, patient and humbling advice on the DCM Novices thread (i.e. slow down, you idiot ).

Date | Distance | Pace |Notes
9th June | 6.5 miles | 7'45 |
10th June | | | Pilates.
13th June | 13.2 miles | 8'33 |
14th June | 13.2 miles | 9'31 | This is probably my LSR pace, though I had tired legs from the day before so didn't have to work hard to run slow.
16th June | 7 miles | 8'47 | My first ever early morning run, out at 6AM. I felt like eating all day despite eating a large breakfast after the run! Still not slow enough


In not-running-slow news, I signed up for the Docklands 5k this Thursday as some friends are running in it. I hadn't planned on doing this, but it looks like a nice course, it's pretty close to my work, it's a club-run event and even the weather looks good. I have a bit of a head cold and am doing the Irish Runner 5 mile next weekend so doubt I'll go all out.

Dubgal72

Two 13 milers back to back??!! You kept this quiet on the DCM MN thread....grr
Keep the pace nearer 10m/m for now, especially starting off. Maybe it's a case that you reassess your target earlier than later but even still, veer to the slower end of the spectrum for now...think of all those fatigue-resistant mitochondria you're recruiting

Singer

Race report!!!

Since starting this training log I've been acutely and correctly made aware that my training runs have been too fast. I'll start training slower, however on the meantime running actual races is my new excuse to run fast

Today I did the Docklands 5k in 21:13 (net).

Splits were 4:15, 4:01, 4:09, 4:24, 4:17

Over 2 minutes off my only other 5k back in March. I felt pretty exhausted at the end - my taper included getting a cold and having a few beers the night before, so probably didn't run as fast as I could have, but I'm still pretty happy with that

Ososlo

Great going tonight! Congratulations on your PB! Huge improvement since MSB!
All looking good for you for DCM!!!!

Notwork Error

Great stuff Singer! That's a huge improvement. The speed is there, now to build the endurance on top of it. You're in a great position heading into marathon training.

Singer

Ok, gonna make this Sunday - Sunday.

Date | Distance | Pace | Notes
18th June | 3.14 miles | 6'49 | Docklands 5k in 21:13. Started fast, slowed in the middle, finished alright though tired at the end. Usual dodging around a bunch of slow starters despite starting equidistant between 20 minute and 25 minute pacers. Otherwise course was very flat, weather was fantastic, organisation was great - nice race to be involved in!
20th June | 19 miles | 9'32 | Pretty sure I met the wall around 17 miles or so. I ran this in a Dubgal72 compliant manner (without headphones, thinking about form, not bothering with complex breathing, etc.) and found it quite relaxing! I noticed a *lot* of stiffness in my left leg sooner than I may have without being bothered by my headphones. Honestly, despite *loving* music and podcasts I found it a lot less stressful than listening to them, as I wasn't being bothered about what to put on next, getting drowned out by the Nike+ run commentary/passing cars, etc. Things got pretty tough after 17 miles, legs felt like they were running through mud. I stopped for about a minute at 18 miles due to a pain in my left lung (where I'd been had a small bout of pleurisy recently), but that went away when I stopped and didn't return.
21st June | 3.4miles | 8'19 | "Recovery run" - after the previous evening's exertions, this was just a short run at a pace I enjoyed while listening to music

Murph_D

Brilliant performance in the 5k race but a 19 miler 2 days after, even at slow pace, is probably not a great idea. Long runs are very fatiguing and you need extra recovery time after a hard race. One of the hardest things to do in a first marathon cycle especially is getting to the start line in one piece. So many of us get injured, often from not recovering properly.

Best of luck with the training. Goals are well within grasp if you stay healthy and fit.

Dubgal72

Hey, just catching up here. Firstly well done on the 5k, brilliant . I have a feeling we'll be shifting your target and training paces as we move through the cycle but trust me, for now, you really will benefit from keeping the long and recovery runs at the slower end of your target range.

Murph is right, there should have been two full recovery days before you tackled a lsr. If you do a taxing run or session too soon after a race, you are not allowing your body to fully utilise the gains made from the stresses of the race.
Tell me though, why 19 miles? There is a very real danger that you will a) over train and b) peak too soon leading to staleness and stagnation come September. I don't want that for you and I don't think you do either. You have the potential to be a very good runner. Don't f**k it up by doing too much too soon.

When you come out of marathon training (in full health), you are going to blow all your current PBs out of the water.

Singer

I did 19 miles 'cos I was at 16 miles and still felt good at a turn-off back home. Instead of heading for home I went through another estate, despite wind and a bit of rain at decision time. I was totally aware that it was belligerence that was keeping me running at the time, though also I wasn't particularly in pain or exhausted at the time (I could have done with a drink - I brought out about 500ml of water and it was not enough). Until the last couple of miles I was running at what felt a fairly consistently easy pace (I was enjoying slowing down, honest!), though I was fairly wrecked when I got home, and was pretty tired today.

I guess overall that running so far has involved pushing myself regularly. I am completely in awe of the advice that I've been fortunate to have on these parts and I definitely don't want to do anything stupid that puts either my enjoyment of running or arbitrary goals at risk. I don't intend to do 19 miles LSRs every week between now and October , however I don't want to be entirely conservative over the next few months, though I totally acknowledge that consistency in training and being injury-free are the magic formula towards finishing a marathon in roughly close to a goal time. I have been running without a plan, and my first plan ever starts tomorrow - hopefully this should reduce the frequency of controversial training runs

tailgunner

This is my favourite log title. Best of luck with the training plan.

Greenmachine

Really enjoyable log Singer.Good luck in all your goals.

Singer

Can my training log include boring information about running gear? Of course it can.

I own three pair of running shoes.

1. Nike Pegasus+ 2007 (Size 11) - around 400 miles.

I bought these without assistance many years ago, put them away and didn't do much with them until the other summer. These don't feel like they're cushioning much these days, but are solid and have loads of room in the upper foot / toe area. They are technically too big for me (I generally buy size 10.5 shoes), but they feel fine to run in and don't slip around or anything.

2. Asics Gel Nimbus 15 (Size 9) - around 50 miles.

My first pair of "proper" running shoes bought last October in one of the proper Dublin running shops. I'm pretty sure they're responsible for injuring my left foot a couple of times to the extent that I get slight PTSD when I put them on. They're quite tight around my upper foot and I'd get sore if I tied the laces too tightly. I was measured correctly This soreness developed into injuries twice when running. I don't run on them anymore, just wear them to the gym. They do feel very cushioned and bouncy when they're not injuring me

3. Brooks Ravenna 6 (Size 9.5) - around 250 miles.

These were bought to replace the Asics and are my most run-in shoe right now. I spent a good bit of time in the store making sure the measurements were correct - apparently I have wide feet - but they still feel a little tight, especially towards the end of a long run. They do feel indestructible, in between the other two cushioning-wise.

I'm considering getting a new pair, something roomy like the Nike ones. This writeup reckons you should just go for a pair that feel comfortable and sounds like good advice, so I'll probably go for a pair of runners that are as large as possible but don't slip. http://www.sportssurgeryclinic.com/blog-research/blogs-infographics/its-not-about-the-shoe/525

Singer

Bunch of short runs this week - no LSR due to Irish Runner 5 Mile on Saturday.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
23rd June|7.6 miles|7'54|Everything felt wonderful today and weather was lovely so treated myself to a fast run
24th June|6.2 miles|8'23| Only thing of note on this run is that my iPhone's GPS decided that I was briefly off the coast of Gabon. Pace and distance wasn't affected (presumably some sort of wormhole), but the map looks insane.
25th June|5.5 miles|9'16| Slowed down
27th June|5 miles|7'15|Irish Runner 5 Mile race report. Did a brief warm up. Legs felt a little tired afterwards. Post-race recovery consisted of jumping around on a trampoline and throwing kids in the air at a 4 year old's birthday party and some beers watching Glastonbury.
28th June|3.5 miles|8'32|Wasn't really paying attention to pace - started off slow enough, but went faster as legs loosened up.

Total for week: 27.9

Ok week, missed pilates due to sleeping in :rolleyes:, I was a bit disappointed with the 5 Mile though I did meet my target. I'm gonna taper more aggressively before the Fingal 10k and hit up some hills in the meantime. I'm off work next week home alone with the kids, so running will be when opportunity presents itself but hopefully should be able to get 5 in.

Murph_D

Good to meet you yesterday, B. Well done again in the race. That's too fast for a recovery run though. As meno pointed out recently, the Kenyans do slower recoveries than that. Slow down! :pac:

Dubgal72

Heya, saw this in one of Clearlier's posts today and thought of you :pac: It's long but pretty clear and repays the time spent reading it.

Singer

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Heya, saw this in one of Clearlier's posts today and thought of you :pac: It's long but pretty clear and repays the time spent reading it.

That's a great read, thank you. I think I'm now in the market for a HRM

Singer

I doubt I'll get out in the next hour or so, so... I realise average pace means little or nothing.

Month|Miles|Runs|Avg Pace|Notes
Jan|68.3|7|9'06|A lot of gym work this month too.
Feb|65.9|7|8'51|Still lots of gym going on.
Mar|36.7|5|9'09|Month included an exciting stay in hospital and injuring my foot.
Apr|53.2|6|8'46|Eventually got over injured foot.
May|124.7|16|8'45|
June|146.1|18|8'44|Weekly pilates too.

Dubgal72

Holy emmenthal, you're lucky you didn't reinjure that foot with that jump in mileage!!! Foot holding up ok?

Singer

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Holy emmenthal, you're lucky you didn't reinjure that foot with that jump in mileage!!! Foot holding up ok?

I blamed my foot injury on runners that were too tight. I ditched the runners and haven't looked back

Singer

A wonky week as expected, no running over the weekend. I tried out doing two runs on Thursday for fun while the kids were in creche, it felt totally fine.

This calculator reckons my slow pace should be between 8'56 - 9'28 based on my Irish Runner 5 Mile time which feels about right (though also that my marathon pace is 7'56 :eek:)

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
18th June|13.3 miles|8'58|No LSR the previous week due to race, so I did a long run at the start of this week.
19th June|3.5 miles|8'54|
21st June|6.7 miles|7'58|Ran the Fingal 10k course at 10AM. Started and finished easy, though ran faster than MP in the middle. Windy, sunny and warm so good worst case conditions for a reconnaissance run.
21st June|6.1 miles|8'26|8 x hill climbs, 458 ft total climb.
22nd June|13.1 miles|9'18|Friday LSR.

Total for week: 42.8 miles

Plan for next week is to actually stick to the boards plan (possibly with a slightly longer LSR).

Dubgal72

Just as an aside, calculators for prediction are more unreliable the further out from the planned distance.

Ex HM time = most accurate predictor for marathon
10 mile time = slightly less accurate
10k time = slightly less accurate again
5 mile time = as above
Anything less = :rolleyes:

Singer

Standup time!

What went well:

• I roughly followed the boards plan. Roughly.
• I did pilates.
• I did some cross-training (5 a side soccer on Friday morning).

What didn't go so well:

• I feel like total crap and the LSR was not enjoyable.

What will I do differently next week:

• Not drink alcohol 3 nights a week.
• Not get up early for pilates and 5 a side (both at 8AM in town, so 6.30AM starts) and not really compensate for it with more sleep.
• Get over this stupid cold.
• Get as much sleep and rest as possible.

I'll do a longer post on the mentored novices thread, but this week I really didn't respect my body or training and I'm feeling the consequences now.

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
6th July|4 miles|7'51|Slow enough at the start, picked up the pace and threw in 5 strides at the end.
7th July|5.65 miles|8'28|Nothing of interest.
8th July|||Pilates in the morning
8th July|8.25 miles|8'38|10 x hill sprints, 594 ft total climb.
9th July|4 miles|8'29|Nothing of interest.
10th July|||An hour of 5-a-side football in the morning.
12th July|13.2 miles|9'28|Not enjoyable at all.

Singer

This week was lame aside from a good Fingal 10k

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
15th July|6.66 miles|7'53|First day feeling good in a while, went out for a nice fast run!
16th July|5.75 miles|???|Ran naked aside from clothes. Didn't bring phone or anything. Not too fast, not too slow.
18th July|3.75 miles|8'07|A few short miles with strides.
19th July|6.21371 miles|7'00|Fingal 10k. Race report.


Weekly total: 22.4 miles

Next week: Back to the good old boards plan!

Murph_D

Nice running B, very nice indeed (and so were the flapjacks. bunny gave out to us for not getting one foe her so stick one in the freezer).

Bungy Girl

Murph_D wrote: »

Nice running B, very nice indeed (and so were the flapjacks. bunny gave out to us for not getting one foe her so stick one in the freezer).

Ah yes Bunny Girl, my alter ego who comes out for parties, beer miles and, apparently, cheerleading . Well done on your race, Singer, that's a brilliant time. And, yes I heard all about the flapjacks but they didn't even save me the crumbs.

Murph_D

Oops. Damn autocorrect!

Singer

Really enjoyable week of running. Some of the mid-week runs were a little late in the evening (after 9) which was a little disruptive sleep-wise. I'll try to get at least one of the mid-weeks in before work this week. Pilates is on hiatus at the moment, I might look into the "30 Day Challenge".

Date|Distance|Pace|Notes
20th July|4 miles|9'10|Had to speed up at the end due to needing to go to the toilet |
21st July|5.5 miles|8'51|??? All these runs are just blending into each other. |
22nd July|7.75 miles|7'55|6x100m strides thrown in.|
23rd July|4 miles|8'41|Naked run, faster than desired.|
25th July|18 miles|8'56|Really nice run around the Phoenix Park and back to Swords. Took it easy, though generally sped up as the run went on. Last three miles were 8'32, 8'25 (fastest mile), 8'38.|
26th July|4 miles|9'11|Nothing of interest.|

Total: 43.2 miles